If the kernel crashes, the watchdog timer is not reset and the system will
reboot (assuming a proper connection is made between the PWDOG1 and the
motherboard). Alternatively, the watchdog can be reinitialized via a userland
process which ensures that process scheduling, not just kernel timeout
processing, is still taking place. See
watchdog(4) and
watchdogd(8) for more
information.

The timeout period of the PWDOG1 card is set using DIP switches and cannot be
changed by software.